PS4 built on a budget to avoid PlayStation 3 loss-making syndrome

Things are looking up for Hirai and the gang

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The PS4 won't be a loss-maker according to Sony, which did everything it could to calm potential fears of analyst and investor bods in its most recent earnings call.

Sony's chief financial officer, Masura Kato, said that unlike the PS3, the new console would be made as cost-effectively as possible, so that the company doesn't lose money on the hardware it sells (money that it traditionally recoups through game sales and PSN subscriptions).

Much of the development of the PS3's chip was done by Sony itself, but the company won't be taking on so much hard work this time round.

"This time, yes we have a team working on chip development, but we already have existing technology to incorporate and also product investment and all the facilities will now be invested by our partners, other boundaries, so we don't have to make all the investment in-house," he added.

Nice little earner

Sony predicts that 5 million PSP and PS Vita consoles will be sold this financial year. If you don't think that's a very strong figure, you're not wrong.

But the PS4 might be what Sony needs to make its gaming endeavours a bit more lucrative after the poor performance of the Vita.

The company also announced its first annual profit for five years, putting it in a good position ahead of the PS4 launch.

However, Sony didn't provide any predicted sales forecast for the PS4, which is what we're actually a lot more interested in right now.